Surprise
by Starryeyesstarryskies
Summary: She had everything planned out. The club was booked, all her friends were invited and she had the perfect party outfit picked out. What else could Kim Crawford possibly ask for on her 21st birthday? Well, except for her boyfriend to be home anyways.


**Hey everyone! Starryeyesstarryskies here :) So since I'm new here to Fanfiction and I've never written a story before I'm just starting out with a little one-shot. I just kinda want to get a feel for this whole thing and see how you all feel about my writing.**

_She had everything planned out. The club was booked, all her friends were invited and she had the perfect party outfit picked out. What else could Kim Crawford possibly ask for on her 21st birthday? Well, except for her boyfriend to be home anyways._

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October came way too fast in her mind. In fact, it felt like it was just yesterday that she was celebrating her last birthday and now she was doing it all over again, just this time a little different.

Kim had spent most of her time after she turned eighteen planning out the big 21. She had endless conversations with her best girlfriends about themes and venues. Hell, she had even pictured in her mind of what her dress was going to look like. She had spent so much time thinking of the details that she hadn't even thought about any possible obstacles that could have came up. That was, until she met Jack Brewer.

Kim met Jack when she moved to New York to pursue a career in veterinary medicine at NYU. She was working as a waitress at a little cafe and he was a marine on leave visiting his family. He walked in one day, she served him and that was all it took for them to catch an interest in each other. They talked everyday after that for three months. He would come in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during her shifts just to see her. After what seemed like forever, he finally talked her into going on a date with him. That was the beginning of their relationship. They were nineteen at the time.

Kim and Jack had a relationship everyone was jealous of. They were a match made in heaven. Every time he managed to get away from duty even for just a couple of days, he was with her. They wrote to each other, they called, they did absolutely everything they could to keep in touch. They were two kids in love and Kim needed him like she needed air.

Now if Kim was so in love with Jack, then why would he be a problem for her birthday? Well, he wasn't going to be there. After almost two years together, he was missing one of her biggest birthdays. Of course Kim wasn't mad at him because she knew it wasn't his fault and he had no choice in the matter, but she was still very upset.

"Hey Kimmy." Grace greeted as she walked into Kim's room. Kim was currently staring at herself in her body length mirror with a dress she picked out for the party on. It was fairly plain. Black and strapless. Definitely not what she had chosen as her first choice.

"Please tell me you aren't wearing that tonight. It's so boring and not you." Grace bluntly stated as she eyed Kim up and down. Kim sighed sadly.

"I know." She mumbled. Grace looked over at Kim's bed and noticed the other dress she had originally planned on wearing was laid out with the matching jewelry and the shoes on the floor under it. She walked over and picked it up.

"Why don't you have this one on? It's perfect. Isn't this the one you and Jack picked out together?" Grace asked as she walked back over to Kim and held the dress up in front of her. Kim looked down at it and frowned.

"Yes, but it just doesn't feel right without him here." She replied.

"Kim, wear the dress. Jack wouldn't want you to be sad on your birthday, especially because he isn't here. When he skypes you later and you're not wearing it, he's going to be upset. You chose it together." Grace said as she placed it in Kim's hands. She hugged Kim before walking out of the room and leaving Kim alone to change.

_*Ding ding*_

Suddenly Kim's computer went off, signaling a skype call. Kim ran to answer it knowing it could only be one person.

"Jack!" She screamed excitedly as she pushed the answer button and Jack's face appeared on the screen. He smiled at her.

"Happy birthday Kimmybear." He said. Kim giggled. She normally wasn't one for those cheesy nicknames but it was cute when it came from Jack.

"Where are you?" She asked. It was a habit for her. She always asked where he was, hoping he would say New York.

"Still in North Carolina Kim, I'm sorry." He responded. Kim nodded her head sadly.

"Hey, where's our dress?" Jack questioned as he took notice of the dress she was currently wearing. Kim shrugged.

"I didn't feel right wearing it without you here so I was trying this one out." She asnwered. Jack frowned.

"Well you look beautiful in everything Kim but I really want you to put the dress on we bought when I was there. That's what it was for anyways."

"Grace said you would want me to."

"Well she was right. Now go put it on right now and pair it with that gorgeous smile of yours." Jack winked. Kim rolled her eyes playfully but rolled off the bed and went to slip on the original birthday dress. It was a short, black, sleevless dress with an A-line neckline. Little gold studs lined the thick shoulder straps. It was tight around the chest and slightly swayed out at the waist. Kim finished zipping it up and then walked back to the computer. Jack's face lit up.

"Now you look ready to rock twenty one." He said. Kim striked a pose and Jack chuckled.

"I really miss you." Kim mumbled. Jack gave her a sad smile in return.

"I miss you too Kimmy. I'll be back soon though, I promise. I gotta go though, duty calls. I love you birthday girl and remember to be good tonight. You're still my girl." He said. Kim could feel her eyes start to tear up so she quickly blew him a kiss and said goodbye. As soon as they ended the call she began crying. She was so thankful that she hadn't put any makeup on yet or she'd probably look like a raccoon. She honestly had no idea why she was being such a baby. They had gone through this long distance thing for a long time and she had never felt this bad before.

"Kim you dressed?" Grace pushed the bedroom door open and poked her head in. As soon as she saw how distraught Kim was she ran to her and quickly enveloped her in a huge hug. Kim sobbed into Grace's shoulder.

"I just want him to come home." She whimpered. Grace softly rubbed her back.

"He's going to come home Kim. He's always going to come home to you. He loves you. This is just one bump in the road for you guys and you have to be strong enough to jump over it for both you and him. He doesn't want you to be sad like this on your birthday. It's best if you just wipe those tears away, get dressed and go to your party happy. Enjoy it. Trust me, good things come to those who wait." They sat there for a few minutes until Kim finished crying. She pulled away from Grace and wiped her wet cheeks with the back of her hand.

"I guess I should try to make the best of tonight." She said. She stood up from the bed and slipped on her gold strappy heels and put on her ring, bracelet and necklace. Grace clapped excitedly as she made her way over to Kim's vanity and began pulling out a bunch of makeup products and her curling iron.

"Once we're done with you, you're going to look like a goddess." Grace squealed. Kim smiled and looked in the mirror as Grace began waving big sections of her hair. She really hoped she could pull this happiness thing off, at least for just a night.

**[Time skip]**

After Kim and Grace were both done getting ready it was time to head to Club Metro for the party. They both grabbed their purses and jackets and made their way down to the street to catch a cab. All of their friends were probably already there waiting for the guest of honor to arrive. Now that Kim had gotten all the crying out of the way, she was actually pretty excited about the night. She was the last one of the group to turn twenty one after all. She had every right to get a little crazy.

The cab finally pulled up in front of the club ten minutes later and as Kim had predicted all of her friends were already there waving at her and Grace. They got out of the cab and Kim was bombarded with hugs and loud 'happy birthdays'. Mika, Jerry and Milton were the last ones to push through the crowd to see her.

"Happy birthday Kim!" Mika shouted as she rushed to Kim. She held her at arms length and examined her dress.

"You look swag yo." Jerry complimented her as he greeted her as well.

"Yeah Kim, love the dress." Milton said. Kim smiled at her best friends. They were the ones who were going to take her mind off of Jack's absense tonight.

"Thanks guys. Should we head to the bar?" Kim asked. All four of them looked at each other and then back at Kim.

"Hell yeah! Shot time!" Grace yelled. Kim giggled as they all made their way into the club and over to the bar. She quickly ordered five shots of tequila and five shots of whiskey.

"Now I haven't had much alcohol until now so I need to figure out my favorite." She said. Her friends laughed.

"It's okay Kim, that's what we all did at our parties. Remember I didn't even figure mine out until I was in the bathroom throwing up and you were holding my hair back." Mika laughed.

"Alright, on the count of three." Jerry said as they all picked up their shot glasses and put the to their mouths.

"One, two, three!" They all downed the shot as fast as possible. Kim scrunched her face up in disgust.

"Well by the look of your face I'd say tequila is a no." Milton chuckled. Kim shook her head frantically.

"That was gross!" She shouted.

"Whiskey time." Grace signaled for them to raise their glasses.

"To the birthday girl!" They toasted before downing that too. This time Kim actually kind of liked it. It still burned her throat as it slid down, but it tasted like cinnamon.

"I think I found it. What is this?" She asked the bartender. He smirked at her.

"Fireball. Cinnamon whiskey. You look like a whiskey girl." He said. Suddenly both Jerry and Milton were shooting him dirty looks. Kim was confused as to why but she shook it off as she ordered another round of it.

"I remember when Mika had whiskey her first time. She made the cutest face ever." Jerry joked as he playfully poked her in the side. Mika giggled as she swatted his hand away. Kim's building happiness seemed to suddenly plummet as she watched her two friends make goo goo eyes at each other. That's probably what her and Jack would be doing right now if he was here.

"More whiskey?" The bartender asked. Kim quickly nodded her head.

"A margarita while you're at it too. Keep them coming please." She ordered. Her friends exchanged curious glances.

"Are you sure you don't want to slow down on the drinking until after you eat?" Milton questioned caringly. Kim shook her head and took the shot the guy had just placed on the table then started sipping on her margarita.

"I'm fine. Who wants to dance?" She looked at both Grace and Mika. Both girls squealed and quickly pulled Kim out on the dance floor. I Like It by Enrique Iglesias came on and Kim pretty much lost herself in the beat. This was what they all wanted from her tonight right?

**[45 minutes later]**

Kim stumbled over to the bar as he friends continued to dance. In the past forty five minutes she had managed to drink three more margaritas and five more shots of Fireball. She was definitely feeling it by now.

"Blondie back already?" The bartender asked as he filled up another shot for her. Kim took it real quick and slammed the glass back on the bar.

"Hit me again." She said, her speech beginning to slur. The guy did as she requested. He watched with interest as she took the shots of whiskeys so easily. It was like she had been doing it for years when she had really only been doing it for an hour and a half.

"I'm Will by the way. What's your name?" He asked her. Kim had to compose her words in her head first before speaking. Her head was fuzzy.

"Kim. Nice to meet you Will." She responded slowly. He laughed as her clear drunkenness. He offered her a full glass of whiskey this time instead of a shot which she happily obliged to. She peared up at him over the top of her glass as she sipped it and noticed him smiling at her.

"What?" She asked as she set the glass down. Whiskey spilled over the top a little.

"You're just pretty, that's all." He flirted. Kim may have been drunk but that didn't stop her mind from telling her to start walking away. It was clear that Will was taking her friendliness for a little more than just that.

"Thanks but I should probably-"

"Is it possible for me to get your number?" He interrupted her. Kim's head went into overdrive. She was so intoxicated and her motor skills were not as sharp as they usually were. She was internally yelling at herself for not being quick to say no. Suddenly a warm hand gently landed on her shoulder.

"Well I would hope not considering she is my girlfriend." No amount of alcohol could make her forget who's voice that was. She spun around in her chair fast and attempted to jump into the speaker's arms. Unfortunately, alcohol made her incredibly uncoordinated and she found herself falling to the ground. A pair of strong, tan arms caught her waist and lifted her back to her feet.

"Jack! What are you doing here?" She squeaked. Jack grinned down at her.

"I told you I was coming home soon." He said. Kim threw her arms around his neck and planted a big kiss on his lips. He laughed but kissed back. She knew she probably smelled revolting since Jack wasn't much of a drinker, but she really didn't care. He was going to have to deal with it. She finally pulled away and tried to refocus her eyes so she could only see one Jack instead of two.

"Well I have a pretty big present for you, but why don't we get you some water and some food before we go." Jack looked up at Will who was staring at the couple with a disappointed expression on his face.

"So, Will was it? Would you mind getting me some pizza and a bottle of water for my very drunk _girlfriend_?" He asked putting emphasis on the girlfriend. Will just nodded before walking away to the kitchen.

"I thought you were still in Carolina?" Kim curiously questioned. Jack smiled back down at her.

"I was, but it's only about an hour and a half flight back to New York. You look gorgeous Kimmy." He said as he took notice of her attire.

"Tanks...I mean thanks. God I'm drunk." She groaned as she laid her head on his chest. Jack kissed the top of her head.

"Yes you are, but we're going to take care of that." He replied. Will emerged from the kitchen and handed Jack a slice of pizza and a bottled water.

"Thanks." Jack said. He held the pizza up for Kim to take a bite from and then gave her the water to drink.

"Okay drunky, lets go for a walk." He took Kim's hand and led her towards the exit. He spotted Jerry, Mika, Milton and Grace in the crowd and waved at them to let them know he had her. They smiled and waved happily back.

"Where are we going?" Kim asked as she stumbled out the door. Jack put his arm around her to support her.

"It's a surprise. Keep eating that pizza though." He instructed.

They walked for a little while and slowly Kim began to sober up. Of course she was still a bit tipsy, but she was coherent and finally talking straight and walking better. Jack removed his arm from around her and grabbed her hand instead. He stopped them both in their tracks and brought her hand up to his lips to kiss. He then turned her to face a large apartment complex.

"Surprise." He whispered in her ear. Kim just stood there confused. Her surprise was a very fancy, high class apartment building?

"It's a building." She dead panned. Jack chuckled.

"It's our new home." He corrected. Kim looked up at him with wide eyes.

"What?" She asked.

"If you want it to be ours anyways. The real surprise was me coming home, for good. I've been looking at places for months and when I heard of an available apartment here, I couldn't resist. I'm still getting paid right now from the military and with the schooling I had in basic and technical, I can find a job here in the city with computers or something. Plus I miss karate and I was talking to one of the dojo senseis and he said he needed some help. Then there's what you make so we can definitely-mph." Kim cut Jack off with a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. She pulled away and beamed up at him.

"So is that a yes?" He asked.

"That is a definite yes Brewer." She replied. She kissed him again, this time more passionately. They stood out in the cold for a good five minutes just kissing. Everything Kim had planned and imagined for her twenty first birthday didn't really play out how she had intended it to. She didn't have this crazy party or the dress she had even imagined in her mind two years ago. No, what she got was better. Her man was home and he was home for good, and home was going to be with her. This was definitely the best birthday ever.

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**So I'm totally aware of how cheesy this story was and how crappy the ending was, but it was still cute though, right?**

**Review, let me know if I should keep writing!**


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